


On the Third Day of Christmas my True Love Gave to Me: Three Fake Boyfriends

by shaqfu



Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: Alcohol, Alternate Universe - College/University, Christmas Fluff, Fake/Pretend Relationship, M/M, Sharing a Bed, all the usual light angst and pining that comes with a fake dating au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-16
Updated: 2017-12-16
Packaged: 2019-02-15 09:53:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,204
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13028547
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/shaqfu/pseuds/shaqfu
Summary: Noctis was screwed if he couldn't find a boyfriend in time for the holidays. Maybe one of his friends could help him, if only he could remember if he asked somebody or not.





	On the Third Day of Christmas my True Love Gave to Me: Three Fake Boyfriends

“—And my dad goes, ‘Son, bring your boyfriend around for Christmas, ok?’ And without thinking, I say, ‘Yea dad, of course, he’ll come for dinner.’ Like how stupid can I get?” Noctis half talks, half shouts his story over the din of the party.

 

It was the first Reading Day, the blissful day that students used mostly to drink instead of study. Who would even bother to study at this point? Finals were upon them and if you didn’t know the material now, you were not going to miraculously understand the material a day before the final.

 

Noctis was on drink, three? Four? He really wasn’t counting, all he was thinking about was how he royally screwed up, agreeing to bring his non-existent boyfriend home for the holidays. He wasn’t sure what was worse, that he so blindly agreed without thinking, or that his father just assumed that he was in a committed relationship at this point. At least Regis was saying boyfriend pleasantly instead of through gritted teeth.

 

Prompto is, at this point, cornered by Noctis in the kitchen. He loves his best friend, but it is obvious that Noct is on a different level of drunk than Prompto will ever be tonight. He takes a sip of his drink and nods empathetically.

 

“Noct, buddy, that really sucks, what are you gonna do?” he asks, trying to find a way to get another drink, while not letting Noctis out of his sight. It was only eleven and if Noct was this bad, he was bound to do something stupid as soon as he left Prompto’s line of vision.

 

“I don’t know Prom, I have—” Noctis pauses, Prompto can physically see the gears turning in Noct’s alcohol addled mind. “What if, Prom, what if you pretended to be my boyfriend during Christmas?” Noctis asks, holding his red solo cup between his teeth, grasping Prompto’s arms with his own. Noctis’ eyes are wide in excitement over the possibilities.

 

“I don’t know if that’s the best idea,” Prompto begins.

 

Noct looks around for a brief moment and notices that there’s a counter right next to them. He takes the cup out of his mouth, places it on the counter, and then puts his arm back on Prompto’s. 

 

“Come on, you’re cute, and funny, and you have this boyish charm about you that my Dad would love,” he exclaims. It was a great idea, and now that Noct’s genius brain has thought of it, there’s nothing that could stop him. He’d be saved, this Christmas would be great.

 

“Boyish charm?” Prompto squeaks out.

 

“Boyish charm.” Noctis confirms, nodding his head, eyes going even bigger, despite Prompto thinking it was not possible.

 

“Alright, but, you better treat me like a prince, ok?” Prompto agrees with a sigh, taking Noctis’ drink and knocking it back, despite hearing Noct’s protests.

 

———

 

Noct poured some of his mixed drink into the cup between his own and the other cup that belonged to the girl across from him. The whole time he was playing Chandeliers, Noctis noticed how she was trying to win a staring contest against him. Noct frankly, was too interested in becoming the Chandeliers champion of the night to care. Slowly, the two bounced the ping pong ball back and forth, patiently waiting for the ping pong ball to fall into communal cup of alcohol. Finally, after two minutes of patient ball bouncing, the ball landed in the middle cup.

 

Noct quickly picked up his cup and began to chug, it felt more like throwing the drink into his mouth instead of actually chugging. Once the shot was swallowed, Noct desperately began the required round of flip cup. He peeked at his opponent to see where she was standing. The girl just slammed her cup upside-down to get started.

 

Around them, the people watching were shouting various things. Some were shouting encouragements to the two players, while others were simply chanting, “Go!” It was all high energy, and if Noctis didn’t win this, he’d be forced to drink some weird mix of red wine, cranberry juice, champagne, knock off Sprite, vodka, and Coca-Cola.

 

Noctis attempted to properly flip his cup once, twice, and finally on the third time the cup landed properly. The circle around them burst into cheers, while his opponent was picking her cup off the ground. Once she realized what happened, she knocked her cup down on the ground in frustration. Spotting a chair, Noct climbed on top of it.

 

“I am Noctis Lucius Caelum, King of Chandeliers,” he shouted. Noctis raised his arms and pumped them in victory. A few people around him cheered and clapped, others rolled their eyes. The girl with the dark hair, his opponent, had already calmed down and lifted the mixed drink cup towards Noct in a wordless salute and began to drink her penalty. After a long swig, she grimaced.

 

Noctis stood on the chair, and before he could do anything else that was stupid, he was met with the sight of a well known face. The face of one, Gladiolus Amicitia. 

 

“Noct, get down from there, man,” he requested, taking a sip from his own drink, amusement obvious in his eyes.

 

“No, I’m the Chandeliers King,” Noct argued, stomping his foot on the chair. As he raised his foot, Noctis’ chair began to tip.

 

“Alright, that’s not safe, time to go,” Gladio said with a sigh. Gladio placed his drink on the table where the game once made it’s home and picked up Noctis and hoisted him over his shoulder. After Gladio was confident in his hold even though Noctis was hitting Gladio’s back with his fists, he picked up his drink and proceeded to walk through the party until he was able to bring Noctis to one of the quieter spaces in the kitchen.

 

“Gladio, you’re really strong, what the hell,” Noct commented as Gladio finally set him down.

 

“What, you thought this was all for show?” Gladio asked as he poured Noctis a cup of water.

 

“Be my fake boyfriend for Christmas?” Noct asked abruptly, as he took a sip from the cup. As soon as he realized it was water, he wrinkled his nose and tossed the water into the sink.

 

“Your what?” Gladio asks, as he hands Noctis another cup filled with water.

 

“My dad told me to bring my boyfriend for the holiday and I said yes, but I don’t have a boyfriend. So pretend to be my boyfriend?” Noct reiterates, finally drinking the well-needed water.

 

“What’s in it for me?” Gladio asks, half as a joke, half serious.

 

“I don’t know, you’re my friend? Friends do this for each other right? My dad makes really good mashed Leiden potatoes, and there will be a ton of meat and stuff,” Noct tries to make it sound really appealing but it’s obvious that he’s talking out of his ass.

 

“Yea, fine, whatever, just don’t get as smashed as you are right now,” Gladio agrees.

 

“Excuse me, I’ll have you know that I am the Chandeliers King and I possibly could not be drunk if I successfully won that game.” Noctis shoots back.

 

———

 

“Noctis, please will you just drink some water?” Ignis begs him.

 

Despite Gladio handing him water several times through out the night, Noctis kept finding his way to different forms of alcohol. Olds wives tales meant nothing to him, and the inevitable hangover headache? That was a problem for future Noctis. Tonight, he would have to worry about trying to find a boyfriend to bring home for Christmas to appease his dad.

 

Noctis finished the last of his drink, and looked over at his friend holding a bottle of water in one hand and his coat in the other. 

 

Noctis took the black peacoat out of his friend’s hands and ignored the water.

 

“Let’s get a burger,” he said as he waved goodbye to a handful of people also pulling on their coats.

 

Ignis sighed, “If you insist, but I’m not paying for you,” Ignis chided.

 

After walking down the block for a few minutes, the two ended up in a twenty-four hour diner. It was lit up like a beacon in the dark night, surrounded by other closed businesses and one brightly lit late-night cookie shop.

 

“I’m gonna eat the biggest burger on this planet,” Noct whispers as he opens the door.

 

The host on duty ushers them over to a quiet booth in the back of the diner and Ignis cracks open his menu even though both of them know what they’re going to get.

 

As soon as their waitress greets the two, Ignis orders a hot Ebony for himself and a water for Noctis before Noct could say anything. Noctis pouts the whole time while Ignis orders their meal too.

 

“I’ll have the three egg omelet, can I please have my toast dark, please? Noctis, fried egg cheeseburger with no tomato, correct?” Ignis asks.

 

Noct’s mouth hangs open, he didn’t even mention to Ignis exactly what he was getting and yet _he knew_. 

 

“Yea, that,” Noctis says, trying to look composed.

 

Maybe Noctis was a predictable drunk, or maybe Ignis was just that good, Noct kind of wanted to know but at the same time it was probably better that he did not know the answer.

 

Once their waitress walked away from the table, Noct laid his head on the table.

 

“Iggy, you’re so good at this, how do you always know what to do?” he asked, half in awe, half as a whine.

 

“Noct, literally every time you get drunk to this degree you demand to get a burger. I wouldn’t be surprised if these people recognized you at this point,” Ignis says, unrolling the paper napkin holder off of his silverware.

 

“It’s not my fault that this is the only restaurant open at two AM in a college town,” Noct replies, trying to make it sound less embarrassing than it actually was.

 

After a few minutes, the two were served their drinks. Ignis cups his Ebony in both of his hands and takes a thoughtful sip before he begins to talk again.

 

“So, what’s making you feel the need to become this intoxicated?” Ignis asks, sounding casual but also concerned.

 

Noctis groans, remembering all over again why he was drinking. This whole mess keeps coming back in waves. He forgets, and then remembers he needs to find a boyfriend, drinks to forget again and then remembers all over again. It’s a mess. Maybe Ignis could be his savior.

 

“I may have agreed to bring a nonexistent boyfriend home for Christmas,” Noct begins, trying to hide his blush of embarrassment by drinking out of the glass in front of him. Damn, water suddenly tasted amazing.

 

“Correct me if I’m wrong,” Ignis begins, “but you want somebody to pretend to be your partner for the holiday, don’t you, Noctis?”

 

Noct dramatically sighed and placed his head on the cool surface of the table again. It was either that or miraculously find somebody that would actually date him when there was literally a week left of the semester. Maybe he’d get somebody like Prompto to be his fake boyfriend, he has a certain boyish charm that’s easy to bring to parents.

 

“I’ll go with you,” Ignis states, breaking Noctis out of his thoughts. This makes Noct pick up his head to look at Ignis in disbelief.

 

“You serious, Ig?” he asks.

 

“Why not, you know I’m not going back to Altissia for the holidays. At least this is interesting,” Ignis replies with an effortless smile.

 

Just as Noctis was going to protest, his burger was put down in front of him.

 

“Are you sure,” Noctis asks, shoving a handful of french fries into his mouth.

 

“I’m positive,” Ignis replies, as he puts pepper on his omelet.

 

“Thanks Iggy, I owe you one,” Noctis replies.

 

“You can start by paying for my food.”

 

———

 

A knock was heard on the solid oak door of the Lucius Caelum home.

 

“Noctis, get the door please,” Regis shouts from the kitchen. Regis had been in the kitchen the whole morning, to Noct’s knowledge. Granted, he only woke up two hours ago, but when he padded down the stairs to open presents, he found his father preparing a pile of green beans for the family dinner party later in the day.

 

Noctis made a noncommittal grunt as he went down the stairs, trying to figure out who the hell actually came on time for once. When he opened the door, he saw somebody he wasn’t expecting.

 

“Gladio?” he asked as he got an eyeful of his tall friend.

 

“Merry Christmas, babe,” Gladio says with a smile, and kisses Noctis on the cheek.

 

Noctis’s brain, for a brief moment, short circuits. It felt good, it felt right, but he was still so confused as to why the hell was Gladio here in his house and why was he kissing Noct on the cheek.

 

“Merry Christmas?” Noct says, his voice squeaking as the end of “Chirstmas.”

 

Gladio’s face flashes confusion, as he walked through the threshold of the house.

 

Noct leads him into the house and brings him towards the closet where Gladio could take off his coat. Before Regis could greet the guest, Noct dragged him into the already filled closet. As soon as he closed the door, Noctis flipped on the light.

 

“Gladio, what the _fuck_ is going on?” he hisses, keeping his voice low in case his dad could hear anything over Gwen Stefani’s voice singing “Last Christmas.” (He’s been listening to that album on repeat and Noct was tired of it.)

 

Gladio looked so confused, it was almost adorable. “You asked me to be your fake boyfriend for Christmas? Don’t you remember? At that party during Reading Day. Come on, you couldn’t have been that drunk Chandeliers King.”

 

Oh no, that party. Noctis shuddered just thinking about the hangover he had. He could still feel it in his bones. 

 

“Oh my gods,” he whispers as he drags his hands down his face. “I’m so sorry. I don’t rememberasking you at all, Gladio. I owe you a big one.” 

 

“Hey, no problem, but if we could get out of this closet, that would be cool,” Gladio responds, fidgeting a little bit.

 

“That’s what I said before I came out,” Noct says to himself as he opens the door.

 

Gladio quickly follows him out of the closet and then hands Noct his coat. Noct hangs up the coat and gives Gladio a quick up-down. He’s wearing this charming, form-fitting red sweater, and he’s wearing khakis. Gladio’s wearing khakis for Noctis? It’s almost laughable. He is still wearing those black boots that he’s never seen without, which seems bizarrely fitting. Even his hair looks really good. It’s slicked back as normal, but neater, as if he ran product through it instead of leaving his hairstyle up to fate. Noctis was impressed.

 

“You look good,” Noct comments.

 

Gladio’s cheeks turn just a shade darker, “Thanks,” he replies, slightly embarrassed. He quickly recovers and winks, “Had to look good for my boyfriend,” he says.

 

Now it’s Noct’s turn to blush. Noct lightly gives Gladio’s shoulder a punch as he walks towards the kitchen. Their time in the closet must have been longer than Noct realized, because when he came into the kitchen, there talking to his father, was none other than Cor, Monica, and a handful of other close family friends.

 

“Oh Noctis, there you are,” Regis says as soon as he sees his son. “Do you mind bringing up th—“

 

“Where is my beautiful boyfriend?” Noctis hears for the main foyer. The voice sounds suspiciously like Prompto’s and Cor instantly gives Noctis a look. The look reads, “Boy, what the hell is going on.”

 

“Prompto?” Gladio asks.

 

“Don’t tell me,” Noctis groans as he heads towards the front of the house.

 

Noctis once again runs down the stairs to see who is at the door. He’s greeted by the sight of Prompto, twelve pack of beer in his hands, nose and cheeks red, smiling ear to ear. 

 

“There he is!” Prompto excitedly says, immediately going in for a hug.

 

“Hey,” Noctis says, waiting with open arms.

 

As they embrace, Noctis whispers to Prompto, “Did I drunkenly ask you to be my boyfriend too?”

 

Prompto pulls away from the hug to look at Noct. “You don’t remember asking me?” he says, eyes darting around making sure nobody heard them.

 

“I asked Gladio, apparently too.” Noct admits, motioning for Prompto to hand him his coat.

 

Noctis sends Prompto up the stairs to find Gladio while he puts the jacket away. Just as he begins to walk up the stairs back to the party, he hears a knock on the door.

 

Everybody that was supposed to be here has been accounted for, so who the hell was at the door? Noctis took a steadying breath before he opened the door, maybe it was just some carolers.

 

“Sorry I’m late, darling,” Ignis says as soon as he opens the door.

 

_Darling, Ignis called me darling_ , Noctis can’t help but notice.

 

Noctis moved out of the way to let in his hopefully last fake boyfriend. Quickly, he grabbed Ignis’ hand and walked him towards the closet. As he opened the door and put Ignis’ coat in, he filled in Ignis with what the hell was going on.

 

“I apparently asked both Prompto and Gladio to be my fake boyfriends too the same night I asked you. So guess we’re in some polyamorous relationship that I forgot to mention to my dad. Just go with the flow?” Noctis mumbles quickly.

 

As he closes the closet door, the two are greeted by Cor’s tired face. “You fucked this one up good, huh Noctis?” he asks.

 

All of the color drains out of Noctis’ face when he sees Cor. Without a word, he mechanically walks up the stairs, Ignis in tow.

 

“So Noct, what’s the plan?” Prompto asks, when all four of them meet up.

 

“Well,” Noctis begins, “We’re gonna make this work.”

 

“Hey dad,” he calls over to Regis in the kitchen.

 

“Come in the kitchen, boy, I have too much going on to leave.”

 

The quartet walks into the kitchen. Wherever you turned, something was going on. Monica was sitting at the kitchen table peeling potatoes, while Dustin was trying to shove another bag of ice into the freezer.

 

“So dad, uh, meet my boyfriends?” Noctis says, sounding confident in the beginning of the sentence but by the end it sounded more like a question.

 

Regis turns around to look at his son. His charming apron has a Christmas tree wearing a pair of sunglasses on it. Noctis ignored the stillness of the once busy kitchen.

 

“Boyfriends?” Regis asks.

 

“Surpise,” Noctis weakly says.

 

As Prompto, Ignis, and Gladiolus introduce themselves, Cor walks into the kitchen and silently hands Noctis a beer.

 

———

 

“Noctis, come help me in the kitchen so our guests can enjoy themselves,” Noctis hears from the kitchen. Noctis rolls his eyes as he hears his father’s call from the kitchen. Knowing that he could not avoid his father, Noct groans as he tries to get off the couch that he was squished on with his three faux boyfriends. As soon as he moves, Ignis puts his hand on Noct’s chest to stop him. 

 

“I’ll help your father, I’m probably more competent,” Ignis says as he keeps his hand on Noct’s chest.

 

“Alright, but I’m gonna have to show my face after a few seconds to avoid being given a disapproving look,” Noct says. 

 

Ignis nods, staring at Noct. His hand was still on Noctis’ chest. Slowly, he sweeps his eyes up and down Noct as if he was lost in thought. Noct looked down to hint to Ignis that he needed to let go to his chest, but Ignis was completely lost in thought. 

 

“Uh, Iggy?” he cautiously calls out.

 

“Oh, right, apologies,” Ignis says, quickly moving his hand away and not making eye contact with Noctis. “I’ll go help your father now,” Ignis says as he jumps off the couch, heading directly towards the kitchen.

 

Noctis looks at Gladio and Prompto and shrugs. Silently, he wanders off to the bathroom before he goes to the kitchen.

 

Once Noctis comes back to the kitchen, he sees his dad talking to Ignis.

 

“Ignis, you seem like an incredibly nice boy, and you sure know your way around the kitchen, but I want you to know that I only want the best for my son, and if you so ever—“

 

“Sir, I promise I would never cause Noctis ill will,” Ignis begins, uncharacteristically nervous, trying to find an escape. Suddenly, his eyes land on Noctis.

 

“Oh Noct, hello,” Ignis says to his partner, relief clearly showing.

 

Regis’ eyes immediately dart towards Noctis and he wipes the dirty knife in his hands on his apron.

 

“Hey, Dad, Ignis,” Noct says, trying to break the tension.

 

“Perfect timing. Ignis was helping me put the finishing touches on the appetizers. Let him get himself a drink while you bring them out, please?” Regis asks with a smile as if he wasn’t just casually threatening Ignis.

 

Noctis nods, he’s used to playing this host game and knows exactly what to do. Noctis assumes that Ignis would be safe for another thirty seconds alone while he moved the plates. In one hand, Noctis takes the baked brie with apples and pears and the shrimp cocktail in the other hand. He left the other appetizers to his second trip.

 

As Noct walked back into the living room where the rest of the party was sitting, Gladiolus stood up to help Noctis. 

 

“Oh, you guys got to kiss!” Monica shouts, looking smug in her chair.

 

The two immediately freeze at the command. Noctis glances up to see a sprig of mistletoe over the doorway of the living room. He sets down the plate on the table and groans. Who the hell put that there?

 

“Pucker up,” Gladio says as he leans down to kiss Noctis.

 

Noct expects it just to be a peck, but clearly, Gladio had other intentions.

 

Gladio moves his lips against Noctis’ and after a moment of contemplation, Noctis begins to reciprocate. Noctis did not expect that but he was not going to pass up this opportunity. The two started to get into the kiss, and Noctis was about to put his hands in Gladio’s hair until the pair heard a distinct cough coming from Cor.

 

Instantly, the two pairs of lips separated from each other. “Sorry,” Noctis said, cheeks red.

 

“Yea, sorry about that,” Gladio parrots sitting back down on the couch, wiping his mouth on his sweater sleeve. 

 

Noctis looked over at Prompto. The poor blonde looked so scandalized. His mouth was hanging open, in a small “o” and his cheeks were tinted red. Noct would have felt embarrassed, but he enjoyed the kiss too much for that.

 

Gladio clearly had to be playing along with his role, there was no way that he would really want to kiss Noctis that way. Noct just had to take these feelings and squash them. As much as he fantasized over the idea of dating one or all three of them, Noctis knew better than to assume his friends would have romantic feelings for him and judging by Prompto’s face, that was never going to happen.

 

Quickly, Noct walked into the kitchen to grab the other appetizers and brought them back into the living room. Before walking into the room, he checked to see if anybody was going to meet him at the doorway. To his relief, nobody was waiting for him, or standing to help him. He set the plates down and returned to his spot between Ignis and Prompto, praying that the rest of the night would be uneventful. 

 

Noctis dared to look at Cor, who was staring him down. Without giving away any emotions, Cor winked at Noctis. Immediately, he took a sip of his beer to cope.

 

———

 

Christmas dinner was, thankfully enough, uneventful, and Noctis could not be more relieved. At some point, he switched from beer to spiked eggnogg, and he was starting to feel good. There was a lull in the festivities for once, the whole party was taking a break from food to enjoy the fire before moving on to dessert and coffee.

 

Noctis sat on the couch curled in between Gladio and Ignis, watching the flames flicker, trying to ignore that gods awful Gwen Stefani soundtrack. 

 

“I wonder if your dad would let me roast chestnuts on the fireplace,” Gladio asks as he absent-mindedly rubs his thumb up and down on the top of Noctis’ knee.

 

“I don’t know, but you’d probably have to clear it with Cor first, that’s more his area than my dad’s,” Noctis admits, while resting his head on Ignis’ shoulder.

 

“I don’t think Cor trusts me just yet,” Gladio says with a laugh.

 

“I don’t blame him, you can be a little nutty when it comes to fires,” Ignis says, proud of himself. Hetries to hide his obvious smile by taking a sip of his scotch on the rocks but Noctis and Gladio can see right through him.

 

Gladio’s laugh grows louder, not being able to help himself. It was so bad of a pun that it was good.

 

“What’s so funny?” Prompto asks, as he walks into the room coming from the hallway.

 

“Don’t worry about it,” Noct says.

 

Prompto frowns for a moment and then shrugs. After the shrug, he leans down and presses his lips to Noctis’. Noct, without thinking, kisses the blond back, enjoying the opportunity. However, he remembered where he was and quickly broke the kiss. He did not want a repeat of what happened with Gladio earlier. With a smile, Prompto sat down next to Gladio. After a moment of getting comfortable, Prompto gasps, stands up, and gives Ignis a kiss too.

 

“What, you forget about me?” Gladio asks.

 

“Saving the best for last,” Prompto shoots back as he sits back down and then kisses Gladio.

 

“Alright, that’s enough,” Cor sternly says from the doorway of the kitchen, seeing what just unfolded.

 

“Oh Cor, you want a kiss too?” Prompto asks, getting up again.

 

“No. Don’t come near me either, or I’ll toss you right back on that pile of boys before your lips even pucker,” Cor announces, narrowing his eyes.

 

Prompto begins to laugh so hard that he just falls back on the couch on top of Gladio, envisioning himself getting tossed across the room. He couldn’t even snuggle up to Cor at this point if he tried.

 

Noct couldn’t be more thankful for Cor at this moment. Even though Cor knew what was happening, he was still playing along and watching out for Noctis. Noctis knew that he was going to get an earful once everybody left for the holiday, but for right now, he was going to spend the night with his three incredibly good looking fake boyfriends and enjoy the rest of the night.

 

“Anyway, come back to the table, it’s time for dessert,” Cor’s says from the kitchen, no longer in the doorway.

 

Slowly, the four untangled themselves from each other and headed over to the table for their final round of food. Noct quickly knocked back his drink and makes a pitstop at the makeshift bar in the kitchen before sitting down again.

 

That last drink was suddenly hitting Noctis hard. He went from not really feeling anything, to suddenly feeling pleasantly fuzzy. 

 

“I think I’m buzzed,” Noct mumbles nonchalantly to himself.

 

Ignis gives him a look that clearly reads, “Don’t make a fool out of yourself.”

 

“I’ll be fine after I eat something,” Noctis confirms.

 

Regis places the final plate on the table. “We have cookies, more cookies, a pound cake, an apple pie, and Ignis, this is a poached pear tart, correct?” 

 

Ignis nods.

 

“Excellent, and a poached pear tart, which I’m definitely going to have a slice of,” Regis says.

 

“Iggy, you make that?” Gladio asks, nodding towards the tart.

 

“Of course,” Ignis says, while pouring coffee into a mug for himself.

 

“I’ll have some of that,” Noctis says, as he pushes over a few cookies on his plate, making room for Ignis’ dessert.

 

“Oh! Me too!” Prompto says, grabbing a plate.

 

 

One by one, each person at the table was served. When Noctis took a bite out of the tart, he had to stop himself from moaning.

 

“Ignis, this is so good,” he says. “Best boyfriend ever,” he tacks on, letting his head briefly rest on Ignis’ shoulder.

 

Ignis goes red at the compliment.

 

“Surely I’m the best for other reasons besides my cooking skills,” Ignis says.

 

“Yea, true, but mostly for your baking abilities,” Noct shoots back, pointing his fork at Ignis.

 

Ignis smiles into his coffee cup. It’s private, but Noctis can see it and he can’t help but feel the warmth spread inside of him.

 

Noctis really couldn’t tell at this point if it was him admitting his actual crush on his friends or if it was the alcohol, but this tart was really making him feel something for all three of his friends.

 

His crushes have always been there but it was fleeting, a hypothetical. Now it was big and Noctis wanted nothing more than to be with all three of them in a romantic sense. The night had been so nice, and his dad was approving of him hypothetically dating three guys at once. Gods, who’s dad even was cool with that kind of stuff? 

 

Noctis groaned and knocked back his new drink, hoping that would give him some clarity on the situation. Surprisingly, it didn’t. Maybe if he just stayed quiet, nobody would pay attention to himself.

 

He leaned back in his chair, allowing himself to tune into the conversations around him. Ignis and Monica were having an animated discussion about a documentary that was coming into theaters soon and Gladio, Prompto, and Cor were all discussing a restaurant on the edge of town. Noctis continued to look around the room quietly surveying each conversation until he made eye contact with his father. 

 

Regis made a head jerking motion towards the kitchen and then got up. Getting the message, Noct picked up his glass and walked into the kitchen. 

 

“Son, don’t get so wrapped in yourself, it’s Christmas,” Regis says, smoothing out Noctis’ shirt at the shoulders. “I see you, you were having such a nice time and suddenly you got that look in your eye,” he says sympathetically.

 

Noctis sighs. “It’s just been a weird day, dad.” He pulls away and fills his glass with tap water.

 

Regis hummed as if in thought, “Well, I like all three of those boys. They’re all very handsome, and all bring something to the table,” Regis says.

 

“It sounds like you’re talking about hiring one of them,” Noct says grimacing.

 

Regis lets out a loud laugh. “Yea, it does, doesn’t it? Seriously Noctis, they’re all lovely. Gladio is really protective of all three of you, and Ignis is incredibly smart and constantly watching out for you. Plus, that Prompto has that boyish charm which makes him really fun,” Regis says with a wink.

 

Noctis groans, why was his dad this embarrassing?

 

At the groan, Regis breaks into a large smile. “Go be cute with your boyfriends, let them stay over for all I care,” he says while slapping Noct on the back. “This party is going to wind down soon anyway.”

 

With that, Noct walks back in the room and looks at his three friends, all sitting next to each other, talking and laughing. Quickly, he joins them sitting in their small circle of chairs.

 

“You guys want to stay the night?” he asks, taking a sip of water.

 

It was a resounding yes.

 

“I may have to borrow some clothes,” Ignis confesses.

 

“Same,” Gladio admits.

 

“Me too,” Prompto says while raising his hand.

 

“Ok, Gladio, you may have to squeeze but I’ll find something that will fit for everybody, don’t worry,” Noct says with a nod.

 

———

 

Slowly but surely, everybody left and the only people in the house were the Lucis Caelums and a trio of faux boyfriends. Motioning to follow him, Noctis led the three into his bedroom.

 

“Noct, your bed is huge!” Prompto exclaims, while falling face first into the bed.

 

“Where are we sleeping? Couch?” Gladio asks, watching Prompto roll around on the bed. 

 

“We can just, all sleep in my bed?” Noctis asks, praying to every god that they would all agree. “You know, boyfriends and all?” Noctis tacks on hoping it made his case sound less suspicious.

 

Gladio shrugs, “Works for me.”

 

“As long as you don’t hog the blankets,” Prompto agrees.

 

Ignis smiles, “That’s quite alright.”

 

Now that they got over that hurdle, Noctis just had to find pajamas.

 

Easily, he was able to find something comfortable for Ignis and Prompto. Prompto was handed and oversized t-shirt from a second grade choir concert, and Ignis was handed a shirt from some concert that a fraternity was sponsoring on campus in the fall. They both were able to have their pick of sweat pants and athletic shorts. It wasn’t the most comfortable but in a pinch it made do.

 

Now if only Noct could find something for Gladio. After searching, he gave up on a shirt and just tossed him a pair of his father’s pajama pants.

 

“Sorry dude, but you have to go shirtless,” Noct says, changing into his own apparel.

 

“Hey, works for me,” Gladio says, peeling off his sweater.

 

One by one, they crawled into the bed. Once his guests piled in, Noctis turned off the light and followed suit.

 

“Thanks guys, for everything,” he says into the dark of his room.

 

“Don’t worry about it,” Prompto says, reaching over Ignis to pat Noctis’ shoulder but ending up slapping Noctis square in the face.

 

Once Prompto realized what he did, he squawked out an apology. Noctis laughed, trying not to be too loud.

 

———

 

Noctis awoke wrapped in a blanket he didn’t even remember grabbing in the middle of the night. He was also curled into Ignis’ side. Ignis, Prompto, and Gladio were snuggled under Noctis’ comforter. It was early, like too early even for Ignis to be awake during a holiday early. Noctis wiggled himself closer to Ignis and tried to fall back asleep but he laid awake listening to the other three’s breathing.

 

After a few minutes of quiet silence, Noctis heard a yawn come out from Prompto.

 

“Iggy, you have the coldest toes on Eos,” Prompto whispers. Rubbing his legs together to get some warmth.

 

“Apologies, I should have kept my socks on,” Ignis whispers right back.

 

“Do you think we should wake up Noct?” Gladio chimes in, scratching a pectoral.

 

Great, all of them were awake. Even when he woke up early, he was still the last one awake.

 

“It’s only seven, he might kill us,” Prompto muses.

 

“I’m awake,” Noctis says from his blanket burrito.

 

All three bodies turned over to look at him.

 

“Hi,” he says, trying to duck his head under his blanket.

 

“Good morning,” Ignis says looking down at Noctis. “Sleep alright?” 

 

“Yea, as much as I could with Gladio snoring,” Noctis says with a scoff.

 

“Rude, at least you don’t have Prompto kicking you every five seconds,” Gladio shoots back.

 

“Hey, I do not!” Prompto almost shouts, sitting up.

 

“You do,” Ignis confirms.

 

“Not you too!” Prompto groans. “Noct, buddy, help me out.”

 

“I was on the opposite side of the bed, I don’t know anything,” Noctis says, curling in closer to Ignis for warmth.

 

Ignis lifts up the blanket inviting Noct in. Noct presses up against Ignis and rests his head on his chest. Absentmindedly, Ignis kisses the top of his head.

 

“Hey, you don’t have to do that, you know? Nobody’s watching,” Noctis says.

 

“Yes, but I want to,” Ignis confirms back.

 

Noctis lifts himself up to look at Ignis. “Really?”

 

“Yes Noctis, I want to date you. I want to date all three of you. Why else would I even agree to this ridiculous plan?” Ignis says, clearly exasperated by Noct’s cluelessness.

 

Prompto lets out a hum like he couldn’t argue with that trail of thought. “Sounds pretty good to me,” he agrees.

 

“As long as we can keep sleeping in king sized beds,” Gladio says.

 

The others look over at Noctis, waiting for him to reply. Noct looks Iggy up and down and leans in to give him a proper kiss. They both had morning breath and his lips felt a little numb as if his body hadn’t quite woken up yet, but the point was made. He pulls apart and breaks into a smile.

 

“That looks like a yes to me,” Ignis says.

 

“It is. It’s a yes to all three of you,” Noctis says.

 

———

 

Cor wakes up to an aggressive vibration coming from his night table. He blindly slaps his hand on the table until he finds his phone. With one eye open, he reads the screen. A text from Noctis?

 

The text message read one simple sentence, “Not fake boyfriends anymore."

**Author's Note:**

> MERRY CHRISTMAS, TO MYSELF.  
> honestly, this is the longest one shot I've ever written and I've grown leaps and bounds as a writer this year AND I DESERVE THIS FIC.  
> uh, if I goofed anything spelling/grammar wise let a girl know because I edited this immediately after I finished writing it which is always a terrible idea.
> 
> anyway, if you want to talk to me about ffxv or anything else, feel free to follow me on social media!  
> [twitter](http://www.twitter.com/@vicunad) || [tumblr](http://www.countvonroo.tumblr.com)
> 
> to all of you who celebrate christmas, have a great one, and to those who don't, stay warm and have a great night!


End file.
